Huge David Bowie Mural Unveiled In Bosnia

The 43ft. mural was unveiled in the capital city of Sarajevo on Saturday.

A huge mural, painted in honour of the late pop icon David Bowie, has been unveiled in the Bosnian capital city of Sarajevo.

Two local artists created the enormous painting, which was the brainchild of Bosnian singer Vedad Trebonja who described Bowie as “my spiritual father”. Measuring 43ft. by 34 ft. (13 metres x 10.5 metres), it adorns the side of a derelict house in the ‘Sniper Alley’ area of the city, nicknamed because of its central place in the Bosnian war of 1993-95.

Enis Cisic, who works as an illustrator for Marvel Comics, and Zoran Herceg brought the idea to life, with the painting process itself taking six weeks.

It features the iconic ‘lightning bolt’ on Bowie’s face from Aladdin Sane, while paying tribute to the songs ‘”Heroes”’ and ‘Fashion’, with writing saying: “Fashion changes, but you'll always be my heroes”.

Several hundred Bowie fans from around the country attended the unveiling of the mural, which took place on Saturday (May 28th) to the sound of his hit single ‘Space Oddity’. The project was supported by thousands of Bosnians, as well as a number of Bowie’s colleagues and co-workers.

Bowie, who passed away from cancer at the age of 69 in January, displayed interest in the Bosnian conflict at the time. In 1994, he purchased an anti-war painting by artist Peter Howson, which displayed a Muslim Bosnian woman being raped. He also used his profile to raise awareness of the war, though he never travelled to Sarajevo in his lifetime.

“This is a way to pay tribute to Bowie as an artist and humanitarian and immortalise him in the town that never got a chance to host him,” said Adnan Comor, a spokesman for Bowie Team Sarajevo, the organisation that launched the project.